For 50 years AÏDA has been at the forefront of Real Estate services in South Africa. Named after its founder Aïda Geffen, AÏDA has been delivering quality products and services to members and consumers alike since 1958. When home buyers and sellers think real estate, they think of the AÏDA brand, a Real Estate Group most likely to service their home ownership needs.

Many thousands of agents have left the real estate
industry in the past few years and those that remain are now often busier than
they have ever been – but that doesn’t mean they should treat the sale of any
home as “just routine”. That’s the word from Ester Odendaal, operations
manager of Aida National Franchises, who also says: “Home sellers should never
give a mandate to an agent who isn’t genuinely excited about the prospect of
marketing their home.

“Homebuyers have a very wide choice of properties at
the moment and an agent with drive can make all the difference between
achieving a sale or not. On the other hand, agents who don’t give their full
attention to selling the homes on which they have sole mandates can cause
sellers serious financial loss – and not only in terms of additional holding
costs.”

For a start, she says, unless a property is marketed
with enthusiasm from the outset, there is a real risk that the sellers will
miss out on the “perfect” buyers who were looking for a home just like theirs.

“In addition, they could miss the opportunity to buy
their own next home at the best price, and finally, it is a fact that the
longer a home remains on the market, the less likely it is to be sold for its
true value”. The latest FNB Property Barometer, Odendaal notes,
puts the current average selling time at between three and four months, but of
course many homes that are correctly priced and marketed are selling much more
quickly than this.

“And knowing this is possible, prospective sellers
should not only be careful to take informed advice when setting an asking
price, but also be sure to ask agents how they intend to market their property
- and for a written plan of how this strategy will be put into operation – before
they sign a mandate.” Aida agents, she says, are happy to provide clients
with details of their most recent sales as well as a proper marketing plan
including advertising and show day proposals.

Don’t even start painting before you take transfer

2012-05-28 13:20:33

21 May 2012 Home alteration is a necessity for many property owners these days as they add offices, surgeries and studios for home-based businesses, or convert space to accommodate expanding families or ageing parents. Many homebuyers and investors are also deliberately seeking out run-down properties – or “fixer-uppers” – that they can buy relatively cheaply but need renovations or improvements to make them liveable or saleable. However, says Ester Odendaal, operations manager of Aida National Franchises, many of these additions and alterations are being built without proper local authority approvals, thanks to severe backlogs in council planning departments and, in some cases, a desire on the part of the owners to avoid additional rates and taxes.

“What is more, many buyers are starting to make changes even before the transfer of the property into their name has been registered. Frequently, a buyer who has been granted occupation while waiting for transfer will not actually move in but use the opportunity to start repainting, installing additional security measures or even to renovate an old kitchen or bathroom. “But they should be aware that they may be unable to recoup anything they have spent on such alterations in the event that, for some reason, the transfer does not actually take place.”

The reason, she says, is that most sale agreements stipulate that if the sale falls through, the property must be returned to the previous owner in an “unaltered” state. “This could mean, for example, that a hole dug for a new pool by the over-enthusiastic buyer has to be filled in and the garden restored. Or, if the home had a functional – although old - kitchen or bathroom before being sold, the buyer who has already begun renovating them may actually have to finish these improvements to be able to hand back the property as it was - with functional facilities.”

What is more, Odendaal notes, sale agreements usually also provide that no real “tenancy” is created when a buyer is given early occupation of a property, which means that in most cases the buyer cannot expect any payment from the original owner for any additions or improvements made before transfer is registered. Thus, if the transfer falls through, the buyer may well find that he has spent a considerable amount for nothing. Meanwhile, she says, those buying homes where an office or perhaps a granny flat has already been added on must be careful to check that this additional working or living space has been legally built. “All sorts of legal and financial problems can arise if this is not the case, which is another reason for homebuyers to deal only with experienced and reputable estate agents who will take the necessary steps to ensure that any additions or alterations were properly planned and done with local authority approval.”